Appointment thread

[TrishWSU]

Do we have an appointment thread yet? You know, so we can keep up with everyone's updates from appointments?

Ok, well I just wanted to share mine from today...Let me start by explaining the I'm planning to UP/UC but I'm currently active duty Army so I need pregnancy confirmation (heartbeat) to get my official non-deployable blah, blah, blah paperwork. I'm 10w1d and today was my inital OB appointment, the one where they normally try to do a pap and pelvic exam and a bunch of other unnecessary crap. I was kind of dreading it thinking I was basically preparing for battle to stand up to all the routine stuff they try to do but I was plesantly suprised. I saw a nurse practioner, and explained that I was seeking private midwife care (me) and planning a homebirth so I wanted to leave all testing for my midwife (me again) to do. She was totally ok with that! She didn't have any problem that I hadn't done the labwork (including the HIV which is suppose to be mandatory if you're active duty but I've heard it is actually not as accurate during pregnancy.)

She asked if I wanted the pap and pelvic exam (oh please can I?!) or if I wanted to leave it up to my midwife. Um, I'll definetly ask my "midwife" if she thinks those are necessary-hold on she's right here-nope not necessary. I told her the only reason I was really there was to get the pregnancy confirmation, which we'll need for the BC also. So the exciting part of the appointment...

I HEARD THE BABY'S HEARTBEAT!!!!!!!

I was so worried that it was too early (I'm kind of fluffy) and that I'd be totally stressed for the next two weeks because they just schedule you another appt and try it again. My last pregnancy I had an u/s at 10w5d and discovered the baby had died two weeks earlier so it was such a huge relief to hear it beating away. I'm going to my IP's house tomorrow so we can listen to it with the doppler I have. My IM was so happy that I got to hear it because now it she can finally beleive that her baby is real and she's really going to be a mom. I'm sure she will be bawling tomorrow when she hears it.

So, now that ya'll heard about my 1st (and probably only) appointment, I'd love to hear how everyone else's go!

[joshs_girl]

What a great thread - it will be exciting to read everyone's updates!

I scheduled my first appointment today - July 31st, 2:00 p.m. I'll be 10 weeks.

How exciting you heard the heartbeat - this is so awesome!!

[ellymay]

My next appt is July 16th, I will have another u/s then and I will be 11wks 2 days

[Dea]

I have one this thursday, which will put me at 7.5 weeks. It will be my 2nd appointment, I was lucky enough to see a little blob at 5.5 weeks.

[zulupetalz]

I had my first appt today

I'm 7w3d. I saw the midwife I saw primarily with my son. She was adamant that I needed an early ultrasound because my last pregnancy was ectopic. I'm still not so sure I want one. I feel very much pregnant and I know my body. I knew that the last one was ectopic pretty much from the get go. We'll see, maybe I will have one just to appease her. She also tended not to believe my dates. I was charting when I conc'd, and I know the exact date of conception. My cycles are wacky tho, because I am still nursing DS, and I conc'd really late in the cycle. Anyhow, usually I love my appts with her, but I didn't love this one.

The good news is, my uterus is a 7-8 week size.

[JJJJBlue3333]

I had my 3rd appt today. I've been going every other week since we confirmed our pregnancy. We're trying to prevent another cleft palate and part of that is stress reduction so I get a prenatal massage with my midwife every other week and alternating that I see my chiro. After week 13 I'll go back to monthly appts but I must say I'm going to be spoiled after so many massages.

[Nature]

I had my first intake appointment yesterday. I already had an early u/s appointment the week before. My appt yesterday was LONG. There was a nurse in training sitting in, so they made mine very complete. Usually we kinda skip over nutrition, etc,.. stuff I already know about. Not this time. She did it ALL because the nurse was learning.

They told me that because my u/s was only off by 4 days, that they're going to keep my due date of Jan 12th. Soooo... its changed again. And that makes me 8 weeks now. :

They drew a ton of blood to test for toxo (guess what?? I guess I'm NOT immune! She told my dh to do the cat box. ) my thyroid levels again, and some other stuff. It was a good appt was sooooo long. LOL

[MommyHammy]

My first appointment is on July 18th. I will be 7w5d at the time of the visit. Because of my insurance I am having to go with the OB but I managed to find one that is very hands off and only intervenes as a last resort.

[ksera05]

My first appointment was Monday. We did a u/s to verify dates and I was 6w4d like I thought I was, meaning I'm 7 weeks today. Baby looked good and had a heartbeat of 129bpm.

Also met my new OB. She's nice but the appointment sucked. Basically the gist of it is that I may be so high risk thanks to having pre-e at 24 weeks with my DD that I get switched over to the peri's completely - something I was *not* expecting. I knew they'd be consulting but I thought I'd stay with a regular OB for at least 20 weeks. Bleh.

Today I have to go drop off my 24 hour urine test (we're doing a baseline, since one of the big signs of pre-e is spilling protein) and get myself stuck, and then I have an appointment in a week and a half with the peris and then the next week with her. So two more doctors appointments before most women even see an OB/midwife.

[flapjack]

I finally got my appointment for my 12 week u/s- bang on the dot of 13 weeks by LMP (the 25th.) So that day is the official end of the first trimester for me, one way or another.
Gotta love the NHS...:

[bloominmamas]

I have been putting off making an appointment with my MW. It would really make this pregnancy real and maybe make it move even faster for me than it already is. I don't want to sound like I don't want this baby because I do desperately but I have been super stressed lately and weird. Anyway, I will make my appointment today for July 26, I will be just over 12 weeks.

[widdlelou]

I go in on Monday for my ultrasound (I'll be about 7.5 weeks) and then I go in WEdnesday for a followup (b/c my OB's ultrasound machine broke). So I'm just crossing my fingers and getting more stressed about it,l you konw no heartbeat and such. Ij ust want to make sure everything is fine, and I know it doesn't mean it will stay that way but I just think that I will feel so good seeing it.

[weeirishlass]

I don't have my first appt. until the 16th. I don't wanna wait! But that is my b-day, so nobody can give me bad news that day, right? No u/s, but they'll measure my size and make sure I'm on target. I should be about 8 weeks at that point. I'm hoping they'll use the doppler, but no idea if you can even hear a heartbeat then. I don't wanna wait 2 more weeks!!!

[loraxc]

My first appointment in July 12. I'll be almost 11 weeks. I'm hoping to hear a HB, but since I have a tipped uterus, I don't know.

[Dea]

Oh today's appointment was good. I saw my baby, it really looks like a baby, if you don't look at the giant yolk sac. And I saw the beating heart, that was pretty fun! It still seems surreal to me, but becoming more real.
My NP reminded me to not stress, whatever will happen will and there is nothing I can do about it. She went on to say that as a parent I will always be worried about the unknown, but I can't let it consume me. She's so wise, I'll be sad that I only get one more appointment with her. (then I move from the fertility clinic to a regular OBGYN)

[zulupetalz]

Ultrasound today

I had an early u/s today after being urged to do so by two of the midwives in the practice that I go to. My last pregnancy was ectopic, so they felt it necessary to make sure that this one landed in the right spot. I had no doubts, but I went anyway.

There was a heartbeat! 167 bpm! Their measurements were a little different from my dates -- I am 7w5d by dates and 7w2d according to them. Of course, now I will obsess over whether my baby is growing adequately, etc. I probably should have refrained from having one for this reason. I'm just going to hope that everything is going as it should. I didn't doubt it before, but somehow, when someone else puts the idea of doubt in your mind....:

[mosesface]

i had a WONDERFUL appt today so i thought i'd resurrect this thread!

dh and i had our first appt with our midwife today. i've spoken to her and a couple of her partners on the phone over the last couple of weeks but today was the first time i met her face to face and visited the birth center.

she is AWESOME. we talked for about an hour and a half and she showed me all around her gorgeous birth center and all the gardens and fountains and greenhouses and breezeways. it is a spectacular place and i am so excited to be her client!

i have another appointment with her next week (first official prenatal appt). i'll be between 8 and 9 weeks.

[NamastePlatypus]

tomrrow is my first midwife appt : VERY excited!!!

[Jezzy]

I had my third. Yep third appointment yesterday (german docs love pregnant ladies!

Everything is looking perfect, the baby is just as big as is should be. My doc suggested something though. I don't know what to do. He wants to do a first trimester test. (even though everything looks good) He wants to mesure the nose, and neck then take my blood to see if the baby is healthy.

What should I do??? I have 2 more weeks to decide. He suggested it because of my age 39 Doesn't the fact that I have a lot of ladies in my family that gave birth late?? My grandma 39. My sis 38. My aunt 43,45. All of those babies are healthy. Doesn't that count?

So mamas, I would like to know that you all would do.

Thanks!

[flapjack]

Jezzy, the advice given over here is that you either have the nuchal fold test (where they measure the thickness of the skin at the back of your neck) or the alpha-feto-protein test, but not both: according to my medical notes you can't cross-reference the two together. It's my understanding that the nuchal fold (the ultrasound) is more accurate.
In your shoes, I'd ask yourself the question of "what would I do if I knew I were 20 weeks pregnant with a baby with Downs Syndrome?" Could you terminate? If the answer to that question is yes, my family can't cope with a disabled child, then I'd consider having the tests done because they will indicate if you need an amniocentesis to confirm a diagnosis of Downs. If you would not consider termination, there is no point in having these screening tests done. The blood test in particular has a high risk of false positives, and it's a lot of worry if you wouldn't accept a recommended termination.

In other news, I met my midwife today I decided not to let her try for a heartbeat with the doppler, my blood pressure is better than it's ever been, she makes me laugh, is doing a fair number of homebirths and generally, I like her lots. It helped that we were wearing the same top as well I'm not classified as high risk because I'm fat, she's unconcerned about anything and everything and generally life is sweet Next appointment's at 16 weeks, but I have to go and get some bloods done before then and another scan.